Beginning
by GenuineLies
Summary: A Billy/Teddy Young Avengers story. Another "how-they-got-together" fic. Mostly fluff, mild angst if you squint and have bad glasses.


**Title: Beginning**

**Fandom: Young Avengers**

**Rating: PG**

**Warnings:** None...this is pretty fluffy, angst if you squint at it.

**Relationships:** Billy Kaplan/Teddy Altman

**Notes:** This has been done before, and well, by other writers, but surely the fandom can always use another how-they-got-together fic?

"Focus!"

"Right. Here I was, daydreaming of the Avengers mansion!" Billy's zap went wild at the distraction, hitting Eli mid-punch and allowing Nate an opening to knock him on his rear. "How was I supposed to know we were meant to be _focusing_?"

But his shoulders had hunched, and one hand had a tremble to it. "I'm sorry…" he offered lamely to Eli. "God, are you okay?"

"Fine." Eli's lips were pressed thin. "Just fine! Because when we're out fighting the real bad guys, I know I can count on you to, I don't know, help them out and give them an opening by electrocuting me!"

"Eli…" Teddy said, looking between the one boy, who had more than enough reason to be ticked off, and the other, who was white-faced and sick looking.

It took a long minute of uncomfortable silence before Eli let out a breath. "Hey. Man, I'm sorry. I know you're trying."

"Yeah, A-plus for effort?" Billy said bitterly. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Look, I think I'm going to call it a night, guys, sorry." He threw one last miserable glance toward Eli. "Really sorry."

"Practice tomorrow." Nate said. "This isn't a joke. We have to-"

"I know you'll have it together then." Eli said, far more encouraging than he should have been to someone who hit him with magic lightning a moment before.

Billy was already retreating. He held up a hand in a sarcastic-seeming backwards salute.

Teddy looked after him.

"We're probably done here, man," Eli said, his face threatening a knowing smirk.

"Right," Teddy said. "Well, okay. See you tomorrow."

He drew in a breath, shrank his bony, leathery wings into himself, and considered going after Billy.

What could he say to him? He couldn't lie. Billy needed practice. Eli wasn't wrong-if this kept up, he could be a liability in the field.

The way the smaller boy shrank in on himself when he screwed up twisted at his stomach.

_Be brave, Teddy Altman._

Right. Because he was trying to be a hero. No, scratch that – he was _going_ to be a hero. So if he couldn't face his scrawny, sarcastic, _adorable_ friend when he was hurting, just because of some stupid crush, how was he ever going to live up to his own ambitions?

Because he had those now. Ambition. His own, not Greg's, not the other kids' at school, _his._

He waved a hand at his teammates, who were sharing a glance he didn't like in the least, and jogged after Billy.

#

Billy's mouth tasted dry. Was it from ozone? He winced at himself.

"Fry all your teammates, way to go. You'll finally be popular…the criminals in this stupid city will beg you to fight them." He kicked at a rock, tripped over it, and was surprised not to land face-first on the pavement. Two strong hands on his shoulder righted him.

He turned around so fast that he tripped again, this time over his own feet. "Oh-hey," he squeaked, flailing. This time he managed to catch his balance on his own, although Teddy's hands were already scrambling for him. The other boy dropped them to his sides awkwardly at Billy's crooked smile.

"Eli's fine," Teddy offered.

"This time," Billy muttered darkly, losing his attempt at a façade. "I'm a hazard." He stopped walking backwards, facing Teddy but not meeting his eyes. "Know why I haven't had any bruises lately?"

There was silence. Billy sneaked a glance. Teddy's eyes were way too concerned. _Stop looking at me like that…_but he liked him looking at him like that.

That was the whole problem, wasn't it? Billy Kaplan, the boy who could wish things and get them, had been wishing for Teddy to look at him like that since the day they'd met.

"Forget it."

"No, why?" Teddy's voice was low. "I did notice."

Billy gave him a disbelieving look. "I…Kessler, the kid who used to rail on me for breathing? I kind of zapped him. By accident but…but not really."

"Because he attacked you?" The blond's face darkened.

"He was attacking some other kid. But I went from run-of-the-mill dweeb you shake up for kicks to untouchable-guy-who-might-blow-up-the-school. I pretty much lost any remaining friendly _acquaintance_ I had. I eat my meals in the bathroom. I probably should not have just said that." Billy paused to allow his mortification to really sink in. "And now I'm zapping my teammates."

Teddy's eyes were too understanding, too kind, and Billy felt like he wasn't keeping the look of longing off his face well enough to pass muster.

"It'll get better."

"You sound like a television ad."

"You have us now."

"Did you not just see what happened?"

"Eli brushed it off. He's fine."

"Mm." Billy felt his face twist sardonically. He turned on his heels and began walking again. Teddy fell in step. "I must have really bad karma. It's not enough that I'm the nerdiest kid in school, or have great muscle definition…" he hit one of his thin arms, "or _gay_, but I also get superpowers that I can't control!"

"You do have great muscles," Teddy said flippantly. "They're not big, sure, but they're there."

Billy blinked. _Don't look at him, he's picking on you._ Why would Teddy pick on him? _Because the universe hates you._ Billy snuck a glance sideways anyway. Teddy was smiling at him, and there was something off about it that made Billy look harder.

Teddy noticed the scrutiny and looked away, quickly. "Anyway, you'll get the knack of it. I'll help you. Don't worry so much."

"Do you know me?" Billy said incredulously.

They'd reached Teddy's subway stop. The blond just raised a hand and grinned at him. "Meet me a couple hours early tomorrow."

#

"Great!" Teddy grinned widely. It was the last of about twenty training sessions that had just been Billy and him. He felt like a genius; the self-help books and one-on-one time, without the pressure of an anal future supervillain and a volatile, exacting teammate had done the trick.

Billy collapsed on the ground, laughing.

"I hope that's from joy and not because you're cracking up," Teddy mentioned.

Billy's hair was mussed, his cheeks flushed, and Teddy had to look away. He chose to look up, because hey, stars, right? Everyone liked looking at stars.

"The guys'll not have to hide their heads in paper bags on our first big hero debut," Billy said. "Or rather, hide my head in a paper bag because yeah, why would they? They don't have issues."

Teddy shook his head at him.

Billy was quiet, which was rare enough to make him look. The dark-haired boy had a thoughtful look on his face, staring up at the night sky. Teddy offered him a hand up. It took a minute for him to notice, but when he did, his hand felt small but wiry and strong in his own.

Capable. Billy was so capable. He knew what he wanted, and whether or not he believed he could get it, he tried anyway.

That was courage, Teddy realized.

Billy's brown eyes were sharp on his for just a moment too long, before he turned and ran a hand through his hair, though it couldn't have been to straighten it. The locks fell over his metal headband and into his eyes. In profile, his face was regal. Just for a moment.

"Thanks."

Then the moment was gone, broken by Billy's lopsided grin. "Pizza?"

"Pizza," Teddy said solemnly.

#

"I'm seeing what I want to see," Billy muttered to himself, alone in his room. "I wanttoseewhat'sreal, I wanttoseewhat'sreal…"

Either the spell didn't work or there wasn't anything lying to him in his bedroom. Then again, his posters couldn't really change their expressions to look at him the same way Teddy sometimes did, no matter how much Billy might have, in the past before _Teddy_, he had wanted the Human Torch to gaze lovingly into his eyes.

"You're an idiot," he said.

His action figures wisely didn't dispute his statement.

#

"Hey."

Billy slammed the locker so hard it sprung back open, into his face. He stumbled back, into someone's warm, solid chest. "Ow!" He took a quick step out of the proximity of _whoever-it-was._ He knew who it was though. No one else would get within ten feet of him, outside of a structured classroom or commute from classroom-to-hallway setting.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry!"

"Get a room!" Some random highschooler shouted mortifyingly.

"I would, but I don't think the principle would let me have a whole room just for my locker!" Billy winced. That had sounded more biting in his head.

"Dork!"

"That's…that's right!" Billy called back. "Actually." He sighed, and turned, offering up a weak smile to Teddy.

"Have you been avoiding me?" Teddy said it so grimly.

"Why?" Billy deflected.

"Because you've been avoiding me."

That was harder to deflect, because it was true. Saying "I thought I'd give you some space so my mind-control powers can wear off" didn't really seem like a good idea in any scenario, let alone in school, so Billy didn't say anything. He opened his locker – carefully this time – and dragged his stuff out.

Teddy trailed after him until they were outside and off school property. "The team misses you."

"Sure," Billy said. "Sure they do."

"You were recruited. We need you."

Billy worried his lip. "They sent you here?"

"They asked me to check up on you."

Billy tried to pretend his heart hadn't just been lanced through by that sentence. He was never good at pretending, though, not even when his psychologist mother grilled him about just _how_ he had come home with _another_ black eye, not even _he _was that clumsy and he had better give her names _right then_…which would inevitably result in Kessler getting talked to by his mom, and lashing out even worse at Billy.

He shook his head to clear it. That was old news. He never wanted to think about that asshole again.

"You're an idiot."

"Pardon?"

"You finally got your powers working, and things were going really well, so what happened?" Teddy flattened his lips at him.

Billy tried really hard not to focus on them, and failed. His face heating up, he glanced away. "Just got…overwhelmed by stuff, I guess. School, and…" he shrugged.

"You said practice helped you deal with all the other crap," Teddy said accusatorily.

Damn his own words and their inevitable betrayal. "I say lots of stuff. I babble. It's my modus operandi. You know that, Altman."

They were getting to a more populated street.

"Billy." A hand closed on his wrist, right when they got to the intersection where they normally parted. Billy looked up, shocked and surprised. Teddy's blush was smoothed out in a millisecond, damn him and his shapeshifting abilities.

"..yeah?" _Don't freak out. Don't freak…_he was freaking.

"Did I do something?" Teddy let go, looking up at him from hooded eyes.

"What? No!" Billy gaped at him. Then, feeling a somber expression creep up, he swallowed. "I just…"

"Can I come over, then?" Teddy looked like he was trying for an easy smile, but it looked depressed.

"Parents' aren't home, and I'd get grounded if I didn't ask first…"

"They know me."

"Yeah, but do you know them?" But Billy was pulling out his phone, and a short call later they were on the same train.

#

Teddy scrutinized Billy's house and room for clues, but everything looked normal. "So no alien abduction, huh?"

"What?" Billy asked.

"I thought maybe you'd been abducted, or lobotomized by mad scientists…brain slugs? Those can't really be seen…"

"What are you even talking about?" Billy giggled, and looked surprised at himself.

Teddy's heart ached. "Is Kessler beating you up again? I haven't seen any bruises…" He balled his hands into fists, and saw Billy glance at them, then away. He didn't care if he knew he was overprotective. _Someone_ needed to protect the witch, because no one was.

"No! He's left me alone since the whole I-nearly-fried-his-brains-out incident."

"Then…"

"Teddy! Stop, just…you don't want to be my friend."

"What?!"

"You don't. I'm pretty sure I'm making you. I was so alone and god I sound like such a fruit but I wanted a friend, just anyone, so badly, and then you came, and were perfect, and my powers started working…it's just too good to be true. So you shouldn't even be here. And not looking at me like…like…" Billy wet his lips. Teddy could almost feel them in between his own, he wanted to kiss him so much. "Like that," Billy finished weakly. He threw his books down in a messy pile on his bed, then fell on top of them. "Ow."

"You think I followed you home because you cast a spell on me?"

"I think you're my friend because I cast a spell on you." He threw a pale arm across his eyes.

Teddy took the moment, guiltily, to look at the way his pants stretched across the skin barely visible at his waist, the cut of his leg where it met his stomach, the perfect throat and mouth that, for once, was not moving.

"Do you know, Kaplan, that you're an idiot?"

"I think you might have said that before."

"No wallowing," Teddy said decisively, and pulled on Billy's ankles until he was forced to scramble to his feet, flushed. He yanked his shirt down, to Teddy's vast disappointment. "Do you know, Billy Kaplan, that you are the only friend I've had who hasn't tried to use me for something?"

Billy's eyes widened, then he looked sick to his stomach. His fingers touched his mouth, and with a shock, Teddy realized the other boy thought he _had._

"And you make me laugh?" Teddy went on, determined. "Like, every five seconds?"

"I'm easy to laugh at," Billy mumbled, looking horrified.

"You're easy to laugh _with._ You get me. You have a great sense of humor. And we can geek out together. I've never had that before."

Billy took a great, big, deep, shuddery breath. "I don't know if I can wish what I need to. You're too…how are you this perfect?"

Teddy frowned. "You better not wish my feelings away." Feelings? Really, Theodore? His mom has made him watch one romance movie too many. He was going to have to remedy that with zombie apocalypse flicks and oldschool horror as soon as he talked some sense into Billy Kaplan.

Billy laughed then, maniacally. "Dude, did you just hear us? This is terrible. We should really stop." He took a step back, but his knees hit the bed. His wild eyes glanced to the door behind Teddy.

But Teddy took a step forward, into his personal space, even though the other boy was a like a cat, always an arm's reach away if he could help it.

"What are you…wait, Teddy…" Teddy bent down anyway, looking at his perfect face, his perfect, messy hair, his perfect, worried, _wanting_ eyes, his perfect…Teddy kissed his perfect lips.

For a moment, bliss, then he felt them move. "IwantTeddytorealizehisrealfeelings, I wantTeddytorealizehisrealfeelings…" It was said almost with a sob. Billy didn't pull back though. His eyes were scrunched tight. Teddy brought up a hand to cup his face.

"I want Billy to realize my real feelings," Teddy said, with an ironic smile.

Billy was barely breathing. He had thrown his arms around Teddy's neck.

"You're still here?"

"I'm still here."

"I told you my powers suck."

"Your powers of deduction suck," Teddy said pleasantly.

Finally, Billy opened his eyes. It took a long, long moment, but finally they lit up with realization.

And happiness. Joy. Hope.

Teddy relaxed, and grinned, self-satisfied. He, Teddy Altman, had done that, for possibly the most neurotic 16-year-old gay witch in the entire city.

Possibly? He was the only one. And he was his.

"Oh," said the neurotic teenage gay witch, stupidly.

Teddy didn't bother hiding what was probably a little too _much _feeling, for their ages and how long they'd known one another. He didn't care. He felt it, and he was done hiding who he was.

"Yeah," Teddy confirmed. The word was barely out of his mouth before Billy suddenly threw himself forward and jammed their lips together, a little too hard. "So stop trying to change me," he teased breathlessly.

Billy must have heard him, even though he didn't say anything, because his kiss turned tender.

_And oh, God, if he could only hold onto that moment forever…_


End file.
